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Overview

  • 2 references
  • Fluent in English, Spanish; learning German, Italian
  • 63, Female
  • Member since 2012
  • travel consultant (and tour guide) in Boston, MA
  • have undergrad. and masters degree in journalism
  • From Old Greenwich CT
  • Profile 90% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

really love to find out what events, people, etc. have made the place I am visiting what it is today. How did it get that way? Who are their heroes, villans, saints? Who or what music, art, etc do they use to speak for themselves and tell their story?

ABOUT ME

fascinating, charmingly eccentric, multi cultural. Funky and definitely ethnic. My friends often have contests to see if they can guess the region of world my clothing comes from! As a result of decades of globetrotting, can speak 4 languages fluently..german italian and spanish, and can understand portuges fairly well.

PHILOSOPHY

Have discovered that in going around the world, as long as you are polite and friendly, people will react with same. If you are closed up, people will ignore you. I always travel to get to know people and understand their culture, history, customs. I do NOT like just going and snapping pictures so they can just wind up in a shoebox in my closet.

Interests

love different cultures, languages, music etc. I really love to check out indie cinema, bike 20 miles a day, like classical music concerts at the Boston Symphony Hall. Love classic Hollywood films from 40s and 50s. Really love Afro Pop music (like Fela Kuti) and Andean folk music, as well as Chile-folk rock from 70s, like Victor Jara, Inti Illumani, etc.

  • arts
  • culture
  • concerts
  • dancing
  • drinking
  • clothing
  • movies
  • traveling
  • music
  • classical music
  • folk music
  • cycling
  • sports
  • communications
  • history
  • languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Love classic 40s and 50s Hollywood Classics, like Casablanca, Sunset Blvd, Maltese Falcon. Also like indie /foreign cinema, like Lives of Others, about life in E. Germany. Favorite authors include Mario Vargas Llosa, R. Bolano, G.Garcia Marquez, TC Boyle, Sinclair Lewis

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Oh WOW!! Being in Santiago, Chile for Michelle Bachelet's 2006 election as President of Chile. She is the first female Socialist leader in 500 yrs of Spanish conquest. Imprisioned and tortured by Pinochet in the 70s, that she could go from that to President of the Republic...that left me speechless. Her opponent had all the money, connections and in fact, owned most of the media. But she won by a landslide!!

Also being in Berlin to witness the collapse of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989, after 28 yrs of isolation and Cold War stupidity...that was unforgettable!! To see people laughing, dancing and drinking champagne on the same wall that formerly was patrolled by guards with machine guns!!

Teach, Learn, Share

Have found that in asking lots of questions, from who is that statue of? or what kind of music and sports are famous here does lots to help you learn about whatever place you are in. I also try as much as possible to speak and learn whatever language I have to, because I want to communicate in their language, not mine.

I also strongly believe in following local customs, even if I do not agree with them, like covering my head in a muslim country. If that is the custom, I will do it for as long as I am a guest in their country.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom

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